Saturday, August 10, 2013

Every season, 1886 does something different with their cocktail menu, and this summer they're turning into a tiki and dive bar complete with fun tiki decorations (complete with the bartender Peter Lloyd-Jones wearing a Hawaiian shirt!)

Per usual, their menu is divided into four sections. The first features fun interpretations of classic tiki cocktails.
The Strawberry Pina Colada on Fire is an ode to the recently closed Bahooka. There's also the classic Zombie, and the one thing I still haven't tried is the Scorpion Bowl for 4, since they were still waiting for the bowl to come in.

The next section is the dive bar drinks they labeled "Dirty Pretty Things", including a "molecular" approach to shots. There's a Mojito Jello Shot made with Flor de Cana rum. Ever had a pickleback? That's a shot of whisky with a chaser of pickle juice. Here, the pickleback is pickle brine from Langer's Deli enclosed in a sphere inside a shot of Powers Irish whisky.

On a similar line, there's also a sangrita sphere served in a shot of tequila.

The sake bomb is composed of a sake served in an ice glass, so that when you drop it into the beer it will keep it nice and cold.

Sex on the Beach is transformed into a Popsicle that beats any other rendition of this sweet drink. It's a popsicle of white rum, fresh pineapple juice, and suspended chunks of fresh cranberry

Cherry Bomb by Brady Weise: Anthem cherry cider, rum, and acid phosphate as a base, topped with a cacao nib-infused Becherovka. The Cherry Bomb is served in a unique serving ware that separates the two components of the shot.

From the stirred cocktail section, be sure to try the Red Belly Black by Peter Lloyd-Jones, named after a snake native to his home country of Australia. It's an Old Fashioned with mezcal, tequila, grapefruit bitters, grapefruit infused syrup, and garnished with a grapefruit peel. If you love smokiness, this one is awesome.

The Cut and Run is a combination of three aged rums, vermouth and Benedictine.

It's a bit on the funky side for me. Instead, I would get the Ciudad de Oro (inspired by Matt Biancaniello), made with coffee-infused El Dorado 12-year rum, Cynar and Absinthe

This one's for you Manhattan lovers.

The last section is their own tiki creations.My favorite is probably the Jamaican Farewell made with coconut cream, black rum, navy rum, yuzu juices, and spiced mango shrub. It's sweet like most tiki drinks but still complex. The coconut cream added a nice body to the drink. Cocktails don't get more summery than this!

A Tale of Two Raymonds, created by Jesus Gomez, is also up there though. This one's made with a blend of aged rums and cognac, pineapple, lime, house-made grenadine, and Licor 43.

The Shooting Star by Brady Weise brings back the saffron-infused gin he used in his Wind-Up Bird, this time mixing it with cranberry infused St. Germain for a more herbal and less sweet tiki cocktail.